Strengthening forest producer organizations should contribute significantly to reducing poverty, improving livelihoods and enhancing economic development of smallholder forest owners and farmers, said FAO today at the International Conference on Forest Producer Organizations in China.

An FAO project in Burkina Faso, West Africa that supplied chickens, turkeys, sheep and pigs to smallscale farmers, most of them women, has proven that with training, veterinary support and a nearby market, livestock are an excellent way to lift people out of poverty.

Hundreds of thousands of farmers in the Philippines whose crops were destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan need urgent assistance to sow new seeds before the end of the current planting season, FAO warned today.

The United Nations and Expo 2015 signed an agreement today confirming the UN’s major support for Expo 2015, during which global attention will zero in on the challenge to eradicate hunger and poverty and on producing enough nutritious food for a world population expected to top 9 billion people by 2050.

FAO is mobilizing support to the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which tore through the country causing severe damage to the fisheries and agriculture sectors in addition to massive loss of life.

Food commodity markets are becoming more balanced and less price volatile than in recent years thanks to improved supplies and a recovery in global inventories of cereals, according to FAO's Food Outlook report. The FAO Food Price Index, also published in this report, rose slightly in October, averaging 205.8 points.